Not only are the Russellville Cyclones and Lady Cyclones opening 7A/6A-Central Conference play tonight, they’re opening it against an old rival — Conway.

“Anytime you play Conway, you can throw the records out the window, so to speak,” Cyclones head coach Codey Mann said. Few other match-ups get the study athletes more excited and ready to play.

But there are a string of challenges to overcome if Russellville expects to walk away with a victory. The Cyclones hold an 8-6 non-conference record, but struggled to win games in the “Battle of the Brier” tournament held in Greenbrier over the Christmas break.

“I thought we had played pretty well until the Christmas tournament,” Mann said. “I thought we took some steps back. You’re not going to shoot the ball well every game, but we have to find other ways to score. That means getting the ball down low, running our motion offense for five to 10 seconds and making that defense break down so we can get a wide open layup.”

Russellville, however, has a tendency to shoot the ball quickly.

“What’s happening right now is we’ll go down, shoot it quick and then we’ll come down and have to play defense. We’ll end up fouling or they’ll up getting a shot, and then we’ll go right back down and score quick again,” Mann said. “That’s a fat way to dig a hole. That’s the youth on our team. They think the fastest way to get back is to shoot that three. We have to make teams defend us. We can’t just make it easy and shoot the first shot we get.”

Meanwhile, the Lady Cyclones have won three of their last four games. That goes a long way for gaining momentum going into the season, but doesn’t erase questions raised by their 3-8 non-conference record. There are plenty of question marks going into both games tonight.

“We’re not back in school yet,” Lady Cyclones head coach Steve Wiedower said. “We’re still in the holiday mode. Trying to get things back to normal does make it tough, but we’ve had a couple good days of practice. We’re coming off the Harrison Tournament, where we went 2-1. We beat Van Buren right before the break. We’re on a roll. We’re playing pretty good right now and ready to get conference play started.”

Wiedower was confident, but not overly so.

“We know conference play is different and a big challenge,” he said. “We know what we’re up against. I think the girls are ready to get into and see what happens.”

Mann described the Wampus Cats team as a “typical Conway team”.

“They’re athletic. Just as athletic as any team we’re going to have to play in the conference. They’re very well coached,” he explained. “They have three seniors that have played for them for three years and started — along with a really good young core of sophomores and juniors mixed in.”

Wiedower said the Lady Wampus Cats would bring their own challenges with them. He described them as a fast paced team, able to score a lot of points.

“They’re going to force an up-tempo game,” he said. “They try to force you into a lot turnovers and take a lot of three-pointers. It’s going to be a big challenge for us.”

The Lady Cyclones will have to limit turnovers and pull down rebounds if they expect to win.

“When we’re able to beat the press and get it down, we’re going to have to finish and make plays at the end. On the other side we’re going to have to play solid defense. Just give them one shot. They’re a good rebound team, so we’re going to have to limit to them to just one shot.”

Wiedower added that he had full faith in his team’s ability to overcome adversity.

“Our last four games we’ve had to deal with a little adversity,” he explained. “Falling behind and keeping our composure. The last two or three games gave us experience. Everyone has come in and contributed. Those are things we’re going to have to keep building on.”

Mann said that the Wampus Cats outsize Russellville — a disadvantage the team will have to get used to in playing in the 7A/6A-Central. Besides, that Mann expected them to be more athletic.

“Player for player they’re more athletic,” he said. “We’ll have to stay in front of the dribble and not foul. In five of the six games we’ve lost, we’ve given the other team 30 or more free throws. If you give a team 25 plus more points on the free throw line, it’s going to be a struggle to win that basketball game.”

Mann also emphasized the Cyclones need to play better defense.

“We’re going to have to step up defensively,” he explained. “One thing about good defense a lot of people don’t realize is, you can play good defense for 30 seconds, but you have to get that rebound. We’ll have to be good in every phase of basketball to win this game. Defense in conference is going to win basketball games. You’re not going to be able to show up and outscore someone. You’re going to have to get enough stops throughout the course of the game. Sometimes when you play as many young kids as we play, they don’t understand the intensity and level of commitment to defense. They have to realize that every possession is important.”

Boys and Girls junior varsity will tip off today at 4:45 p.m. at Cyclone Gymnasium. The Lady Cyclones begin at 6 p.m. with the boys playing immediately afterward.